Since losing his World Extreme
Cagefighting (WEC) crown to Mike Brown in 2008, Urijah Faber has fought
for one title or another four times, falling short on each occasion.
Having won four straight since his last loss, however, he stepped up to
the plate when injury once again forced former Bantamweight champion,
Dominick Cruz, out of UFC 169 main event.

In addition, surging Featherweight No.
1-ranked contender Ricardo Lamas will receive his long-awaited crack at
the top, facing Jose Aldo for his 145-pound strap in the co-featured
fight of the night.

We examined the first three of seven
scheduled UFC 169 “Prelims” under card bouts yesterday right here. Let’s
now take a deep dive into the remaining four that will air on FOX
Sports 1 below:

155 lbs.: John Makdessi vs. Alan Patrick

John Makdessi (12-2) made waves early
in his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) career, outclassing Pat
Audinwood in his Octagon debut before starching Kyle Watson with a
gorgeous spinning backfist. Unfortunately, things soon went south for
the Tristar representative, who lost consecutive one-sided bouts to
Dennis Hallman and Anthony Njokuani.

Since then, though, “The Bull” has won three straight, most recently knocking out Renee Forte in Sept. 2013.

A product of X-Gym alongside Ronaldo
Souza, Alan Patrick (11-0) had made use of his grappling to earn the nod
in 10 straight bouts. Once in UFC, however, his striking carried the
day as he knocked out Garett Whiteley in the first round of both mens’
promotional debuts.

“Nuguette” stands three inches taller than Makdessi.

Though Patrick has the better last name
and is the superior physical specimen, I can’t help but feel that
Makdessi is all wrong for him. While powerful, the Brazilian’s striking
is very rough and I don’t believe his wrestling sufficient to crack
Makdessi’s takedown defense. In all likelihood, he paradoxically spends
the fight getting beaten up on the outside by the smaller man.

Despite blowing out Forte last time out,
Makdessi still strikes me as a bit too tentative. He is undeniably
skilled, however, and shouldn’t have much trouble keeping Patrick on the
end of his jab and lead-leg kicks for a wide unanimous decision.

Prediction: Makdessi by unanimous decision

125 lbs.: Chris Cariaso vs. Danny Martinez

After disposing of Josh Ferguson with
impressive ease in his Flyweight debut, Chris Cariaso (15-5) earned a
potential No. 1 contender match against Ben Henderson teammate John
Moraga. Despite a solid showing, Cariaso was eventually forced to tap to
a front choke early in the third frame.

Though he followed that bout with a loss
to former world No. 1-ranked 125-pound fighter Jussier “Formiga,” he
picked up his first stoppage since 2009 by knocking out Iliarde Santos
in Oct. 2013.

The 5’5″ Danny Martinez (16-4) gave up a
bit too much size in his bid for The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) stardom,
losing to Davey Grant in the elimination rounds of season 18. Outside of
this defeat, he has impressed since his loss to “Formiga” in 2010,
winning four consecutive bouts.

He is a late replacement for Japanese prospect Kyoji Horiguchi, taking the bout on just two weeks’ notice.

It probably won’t surprise any of you to
know that I was highly disappointed by Horiguchi’s withdrawal — I
figured the prospect would stop Cariaso after a hell of a fight. Without
him, we’ll just have to live with Cariaso picking apart Martinez.

“The Gremlin’s” fight with Grant should be
taken with a grain of salt because of the weight difference, but I’m
just not impressed by what I saw. His stand up basically comprises
winging his left hand and hoping for the best and, while relentless, his
takedown offense leaves much be desired.

Martinez hasn’t competed professionally in
more than one year and two of his last three opponents were debuting.
Add in the short notice and the fact that he seems to trail Cariaso in
every aspect of the game and you have a recipe for dissection.

Prediction: Cariaso via unanimous decision

185 lbs.: Nick Catone vs. Tom Watson

Following a cut stoppage to Chris Camozzi,
Nick Catone (9-4) elected to try his hand at 170 pounds after a long
run at Middleweight, squaring off with T.J. Waldburger at TUF 16 Finale.
After a solid opening round, Catone succumbed to his foe’s grappling
prowess following a big right hand and went to sleep via triangle.

He has elected to go back to 185 pounds
after being hospitalized because of dehydration just before a scheduled
fight with James Head.

Tom Watson (16-6) followed an unsuccessful
Octagon debut with a tremendous bout against Stanislav Nedkov,
surviving ferocious ground-and-pound to put away the tiring wrestler in
two. Thales Leites proved to be a tougher out, outclassing the
Englishman in their UFC 163 showdown.

Watson’s striking has accounted for the bulk of his victories, eight coming by form of knockout.

While Catone has hit a pretty serious
rough patch recently, I still favor him here. I had him up two rounds
over Camozzi before the cut and Waldburger is a tough out for almost
anyone at 170 pounds. “Kong” is a personality and packs somewhat-heavy
hands, but he’s still got a bad case of British wrestling — all three of
his UFC foes have found success dragging him to the mat. I do worry
about the dehydration and the lingering effects of that bad weight cut
on Catone; nonetheless, I feel this is a sufficiently favorable fight
stylistically to pick him anyway.

If nothing else, Catone is a damn good
wrestler, which is exactly what you need to take out Watson. Catone
grinds him down for the full 15 minutes.

Prediction: Catone via unanimous decision

155 lbs.: Al Iaquinta vs. Kevin Lee

After picking up “Knockout of the Season”
and making his way to TUF 15 Finale, Al Iaquinta (7-2-1) succumbed to
the grappling chops of Michael Chiesa, napping out just before the
three-minute mark. He has since successfully displayed the talent that
the Serra-Longo camp touts, battering Ryan Couture in August and edging
Piotr Hallmann two months later.

He has made his name as a striking specialist, earning three wins by form of knockout.

The 21-year-old Kevin Lee (7-0) quickly
cemented himself as one to watch despite less than two years’
experience, handing several contenders their first losses. Though
“Motown Phenom” failed to score any finishes in his first year of
combat, Lee submitted all four of his 2013 opponents.

His last two fights lasted a combined 2:10.

Lee looks like a quality prospect and
Iaquinta’s hands aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Lee has faced
solid competition during his brief career and has showcased a
devastating clinch in addition to his grappling skills.

But, I just can’t pick someone this green over Iaquinta.

Iaquinta needs to develop a quality left
hand to complement his right — Longo calling him the “Arturo Gatti of
MMA” shouldn’t be an excuse to emulate Gatti’s brawling. However, his
superior experience, punching power and presumably his takedown offense
have come together at least to the point where I’m comfortable picking
him as the winner. He showed in the Hallman fight that he’s capable of
bringing the fight to the ground if needed.

On the feet or on the mat, he edges Lee on all scorecards.

Prediction: Iaquinta via unanimous decision

Two titles, a heavyweight fight
practically guaranteed an early finish and a flyweight No. 1 contender
eliminator match. You can do a hell of a lot worse with $60.

See you Saturday, Maniacs.

NEWARK, N.J. – MMAjunkie was on scene
and reporting live from today’s UFC 169 fighter weigh-ins, where an
all-too-familiar scene played out as John Lineker failed to make weight
on his first attempt.

The festivities took place at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The same venue then hosts Saturday’s fight card.

Lineker was expected to fight in a possible title-eliminator against
fellow flyweight Ali Bagautinov. However, the fighter missed weight on
his first attempt, weighing 127 pounds. He had one hour to make the
126-pound limit, and 45 minutes after his initial attempt, he
successfully hit the mark on the second try, a New Jersey State Athletic
Control Board official told MMAjunkie.

SEE ALSO: So, John Lineker, about your weight cut for UFC 169…

The fight will continue with Lineker receiving no official penalty, aside from his bosses’ scorn.

Also among those weighing in were UFC bantamweight champion Renan
Barao (135 pounds), who meets former WEC featherweight champ Urijah
Faber (134.5) for the title, and featherweight champ Jose Aldo (145),
who puts his belt on the line against Ricardo Lamas (144.5) in the
co-main event. All of the co-headliners made weight without issue.

The full UFC 169 weigh-in results include:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

Renan Barao (135) vs. Urijah Faber (134.5)

Jose Aldo (145) vs. Ricardo Lamas (144.5)

Frank Mir (256.5) vs. Alistair Overeem (257)

Ali Bagautinov (126) vs. John Lineker (127)*

Abel Trujillo (155.5) vs. Jamie Varner (156)

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)

John Makdessi (155) vs. Alan Patrick (155.5)

Chris Cariaso (125) vs. Danny Martinez (125.5)

Nick Catone (185.5) vs. Tom Watson (185.5)

Al Iaquinta (155) vs. Kevin Lee (155.5)

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6:30 p.m. ET)

Andy Enz (184.5) vs. Clint Hester (185.5)

Rashid Magomedov (155) vs. Tony Martin (155.5)

Neil Magny (170.25) vs. Gasan Umalatov (170)

* – Has one hour to make weight

For the latest on UFC 169, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Renan Barao and Urijah Faber)

EW YORK – Frank Mir’s UFC job may be on the line on Saturday at UFC 169, but the same can’t be said for his overall MMA career.

Mir, a former champ and longtime UFC veteran who meets fellow
heavyweight Alistair Overeem on Saturday at UFC 169, isn’t ready to call
it quits if he loses and receives his UFC pink slip. Currently, Mir is
an underdog heading into the event, where the 34-year-old looks to avoid
a fourth straight defeat.

“I really don’t think I have an issue going to another organization
and receiving a paycheck for my appearance on a poster,” said Mir, whose
UFC 169 bout airs on pay-per-view from Newark, N.J.’s Prudential
Center. “I can still sell tickets.”

Check out the full conversation, which includes Mir’s process for dealing with his recent losses, above.

And for the latest on UFC 169, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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